Friday, December 24, 2010

Michael had his party/program at school on Wednesday morning. They sang some songs, handed out home-made gifts, shared snacks. Only one shot on the phone..but it was very cute, a nice little celebration. I could actually hear Michael singing the songs and he was very excited answering questions..big difference from last year. :) Several of the teachers and aides came up to me to tell me about the marked improvement they've seen in Michael

Friday, December 17, 2010

Though I guess each kid has their own unique story-Michael because he was the first, Carina because she was born on the floor, Rian because it was super-fast and we barely made the hospital...and now Travis.

As Due Date drew continually nearer, we were increasingly nervous about getting to the hospital on time, given the previous 2 births. I voiced these concerns to the midwives several times--towards the end there, I think I finally got through. Either that or they just were sick of hearing it and decided to humor me. :)

We could hardly believe it when Travis decided that he wanted to be "late." After having 2 right to the due date and 1 early--it was tough.

So, it was a Monday night when I had my last appointment with the midwives. The weekend had been quite uncomfortable--not necessarily contractions, but sharp pressure and extreme achy-ness...

And it was Thanksgiving week.

Mike's 10 year reunion was scheduled for the weekend and of course Thanksgiving was on Thursday--no one wants to "work" a holiday. We went in Monday evening, Mike had stayed home from work that day--we were 5 days late at this point--thinking it could be any second and if history repeated itself, he would never make it home or to the hospital on time for the delivery. Anyway, he was home. We dropped the kids off at my parents since it was near dinner time and who knows how long the appointment was going to take.
(Good thing we did)

I got an exam and Lisa (the midwife) gave me a few options--after finally hearing my concerns about having a quick birth experience. We decided to go walk around for awhile and see if anything "happened." Lisa gave me her cell and said she would be in the office till 8pm if we wanted to come back or made some decisions (go in for a dose of castor oil, wait it out..etc.).

We walked around for about an hour and a half

and this point I was having pretty good contractions--fairly strong and close together. At 8pm, we went back to the office with the premise--if nothing has changed we'll go home and wait it out, if something has changed, we'll go to the hospital.

Well, there was progress.

(I had already started dilating a few weeks earlier)

After a quick dinner, we check into the hospital.

I was monitored and what not--

we said we'd wait and see what happened overnight

(with the contractions I'd been having walking around, we didn't expect to last the night)

Turns out--Mr. Travis is a stubborn boy.

Once I fell asleep, contractions lessened greatly.

To make a long story "short," in the morning Lisa came in and again we went over some options--I was definitely NOT in labor, though still experiencing some contractions. She ended up breaking my water around 9am--and from there we let "nature run its course."

Nothing happened for 3 hours--we walked around the hospital, tried to nap--the waiting around was just torturous with nothing going on --but I really did not want meds

12pm--I guess my body finally realized the water broke and I went into labor and once that got underway, it was just as fast as the girls.

1 hour 47 minutes.

We did a water birth this time around.

I'll tell you about that another time.

Travis arrived at 1:47pm

While the waiting around was very tedious,

I'm glad we were at the hospital.

The hospital staff was great and birthing with a midwife was a totally different experience.

Again, I'll tell you about that another time.

Less than a day old.

We went home Thanksgiving afternoon--

here are some shots of the kids holding their little brother.

Carina was so cute, she did NOT want to let him go.

Mike said her turn was up, it was time to let Rian hold him and she just snuggled him closer...

Travis looks nearly as big as Rian here...

She treats him kind of like a doll--always wanting to touch him or

put a blanket on him, give him kisses. Very cute.

No real jealousy issues with anyone.

Though at times, if Rian wants me to do something--she'll look at me and point to Travis' seat--and say "baby, seat!"

A quick nap with Daddy

He is a big boy, already over 10 pounds and not even a month old yet. He started sleeping through the night at 9 days old. And eats like a champ. He does not like a pacifier and will only take it on occasion--much to my chagrin--he thinks he has a human pacifier.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Baby Cam (see previous posts for name explanation) is due in less than a month. We're down to (or is it up to?) weekly doctor visits..trying to get all the last minute stuff ready and make some food to freeze--today I have homemade applesauce (round 2) and quiche in the works.

Side note, its kind of hard to freeze food when there is no freezer space. We got a *new*-hand-me-down fridge (newer than our previous one) that has the side-by-side freezer and fridge and it really does not seem to hold much. (So if anyone is or knows anyone who is getting rid of a freezer that is in working condition and not 50 years old--let us know!) Lest you think I sound ungrateful, let me correct you. We're very thankful for this appliance, its a million times nicer than what we had!!

Anyway, I digress.

So, we're waiting for baby. I think the older kids are getting excited, Michael has made several comments lately that begin with, "when the baby comes out" and Carina told me today that "the baby will pop out soon."

We have a couple of things left that I really want to get done--ya know, putting the car seat in the car (actually it WAS in the car and then someone accidentally shut the cat in the car overnight(!!) and the entire car had to be cleaned and de-odorized), getting the bassinet cleaned and set up..I really want to clean the tub..but at the same time..I REALLY don't want to clean the tub. Ya know? Leaning over to give baths gets to be painful at this point..and a few other little odds and ends.

Get this--the midwives I'm seeing--well, they're starting their own practice and I just made the cut-off for delivery. So after this baby comes, I'll probably be "shopping around" for someplace else to go, even for regular visits. I thought we were done with that the last go around. I won't really be "sad" to find somewhere else though. While the midwives seem nice enough, I'm not fond of some of the office staff and they are rarely on time--one of my visits was scheduled for 9am--I didn't get in room till 10am. While that was extreme, it is a common occurrence to be 20 minutes or more late. Not good when I'm on a schedule where I have to meet a bus.

Still can't get my camera hooked up to this computer--but being that the one memory card worked, there is either a problem with the cable that I have or Mike said it is possible that I might need an adapter for the type of card that I have in this camera. Looks like for now, we're having to stick with cell phone pictures. : /

So this has turned out to be quite a random post..again, just waiting.

At this point, sticking close to home as much as possible. Unless this baby/labor process is completely different, it could be quite an adventure. For those of you wondering what that means--Miss Rian was born in an hour. I had pains around 12am, we left home and she was born at 1:08am..we got to the hospital with 13 minutes to spare. And they say that with each subsequent birth, the time cuts down..